Najena Raid
lead by Mykil and Swift Strike
July 28, 2001

We had spent many moons in the sweltering, fiery caves of the Solusek goblins in search of mystical treasures that would aid us in our struggle against the Forces of Darkness. One night, deep within the heart of Solusek, we overheard the ramblings of a fellow adventurer. He spoke the ruins of the temple of Najena, a dark elf magician, that was told to hold great treasures for those brave enough to venture within. He spoke a mystic robe that could greatly enhance the abilities of any wizard or magician who put it on and of a dagger that had the magical powers of the Bloodclaw. I immediately began drawing up plans to conquer this foul witch and acquire these items to use against the evil that opposed us.

I hastened to send word to my comrades in the Forces of Light in hopes that they would help in this fight against Najena. I quickly received word from three brave souls (actually Zephyrx chose to charm Roars and send her in her stead. hehe). Cenadebe, Traeton, Zephyrx and the beguiled Roars met me at the entrance to Najena's domain and we prepared for the battle that was to unfold. Perhaps Zephyrx had tried to charm us to do her bidding as well, for with a few waves of her arms my mind began to feel quite strange and then she vanished (love that clarity). I felt quite badly for the brave, misunderstood Iksar who knew not what she was doing, or did not have the ability to control it if she did, but I knew that we would need her might if we were to survive.

The stench of the dead permeated every one of my senses as we entered. Roars, in a dreamlike state, spoke to me of 4 locked doors and keys that we would need to acquire to make our way into Najenas chambers. She handed me two of the keys her master Zephyrx had acquired for her and had apparently sent them as a gift, so we slowly began to make our way down in search of the remaining two keys. Passing over the bones of skeletons that appeared they might come to life at any moment, but I'm sure they realized the fate that would befall them if they dared, we descended down into the temple. We were deep within the dungeon now and had tucked ourselves deep within one of the cells to take a much-needed rest. We tried to entertain ourselves with stories and Roars laid down to take a little nap. Traeton even took the time to get a little exercise in. Zephyrx stopped by for a brief moment and again with a wave of her arms she disappeared without a trace (Roars seemed to sense her presence and hid while she was near). Our rest was abruptly interrupted by the sudden appearance of a magician named Rathyl. I commanded Roars to attack and we attacked was swift force as the demon was quickly slain, only to be replaced by his reincarnated skeleton. We made quick work of this abomination as well. To our amazement, lying there among the bones was a shiny metal key.

We briefly cheered our victory and feeling confident about our good fortune we made our way to Drezlna and the second and final key needed to infiltrate Najena's chamber. Upon arriving at the door leading into her room the sounds of spells being cast rang through our ears. We knew we were in for quite a battle. I pulled the key from my pack and threw open the door. Roars charged in with fists blazing, Cenadebe proceeded to rain bolts of lightning down on everything within her path and Traeton and I cast our magics to heal and nuke. Our hands were bloodied and our magic was drained but Drezlna and her comrades had felt the hatred that we held for them and their corpses littered the floor. With the chamber cleared of all that might due us harm, we took the time to heal our wounds and recharge for the battle that lay ahead. Traeton sifted through the corpses that were scattered throughout the room to locate anything that we might use and to our surprise a Stiletto of the Bloodclaw lay next to the body of Drezlna herself as well as a blood stained key. We had located one of the items we had come in search of and were ready for the final confrontation with Najena.

Roars, still in her trance, led us from Drezlna's chamber and through the twisting tunnels to a small pond. As she jumped in we all followed and swam through a secret passageway to a small hallway. Upon entering we were immediately overwhelmed with magicians and their pets with Najena herself leading the way. The small tunnel was full of bodies, both alive and dead, and the sounds and sights of magic throughout the air like a violent thunderstorm. The battle was long and hard and as all of us were being attacked I failed to save Cenadebe as she fell to the ground, nearly drained of life. Our bodies seemed to surge with hatred for what they had done to our friend and we quickly overtook their forces (sorry I let you die Cena. Stupid Earth element wouldn't let me cast). We stripped the Flowing Black Robe from Najenas body and draped around Cenadebe as we tended to her wounds. This seemed to appease her slightly as a slight smile crept across her face. We decided to rest ourselves and bask in the victory before heading back through the dark, dreary tunnels. It was a glorious day for the Forces of Light.

/OOC…I would like to thank Roars/Zephyrx, Cenadebe, and Traeton for their help. It was one of the most fun times I've had during my play in EQ (Iksar feign dead makes me laugh every time I see it). I feel the raid was a success. We acquired 3 FBRs, 3 Stilettos and a weight-reducing pouch and only had 1 death in 3 hours. 1 FBR was given to Cena, 1 FBR was given to my alt, 1 Stiletto was given to Dreana and the rest was donated to the guild.